Chapter 70 – Baldur’s Nightmare (4)

The sky was dark red, as if blood was falling. Dominic was digging hard in the dark.
He was not afraid of being discovered by other demons, and just wandered through the mountains while holding his bleeding left arm to a halt.

Apparently, this was the last place it was discovered.
If Master is still alive, he will be moving around here.

The magic power was depleted and the cursed eyes became increasingly dim. Without even having time to wipe the blood and sweat all over his body, he continued to dig his hole and remove the wood and stones.
As time passed, Dominic realized that he had dug a hole that could easily fit a person.

“Haha…”

I couldn’t help but laugh. Even though he is a direct disciple of the Phantom Master, he can’t believe his judgment is so clouded after only working in the demon world for a few months.
He flopped down with his back against the tree. He heard the distant sound of magical artillery fire and the smell of blood filling his five senses.
As the bitter gastric juices rose, a rush of drowsiness swept over me.
My body was already at its limit. However, he felt that if he continued to sleep like this, he would never find his Master.

“Kkkk…” … !”

When he fought and resisted Suma endlessly and eventually fell into a deep, dark abyss, he woke up on the sofa with his whole body soaked.

“Huh, oh oh… !”

It was a dream. A now familiar, first memory.
A nap. Were you quite tired? He immediately got up.
He put the cigarette on his desk to his mouth and lit it.

“Whoa…”

The afternoon in Vatudis was filled with thick blue fog and clouds that seemed like it was going to rain soon. Even the tall tip of the magic tower could not pierce the hazy curtain that covered the sky.

Dominic opened the window.
He stood and stretched out his hand toward the black dot visible beyond the Temple of Storms in the distance. But even his mist entering the room could not be touched by his cut-off hand.

Ten years ago, the Great War robbed him of the upper part of his elbow. However, it was not just the extremities of the human body that were saddened by what was lost in the war.
The owner of the Pekda Magic Tower and one of the five princes of Fenheim. After the illusionist went missing, Pekda’s imagery magic went into decline.
Baldur’s nightmare, an uncontrollable anomaly, began to rampage again in the Vatudis region, and the wizards who lost their tower owners were wandering around like a ship with a broken compass, unable to find their way.

Dominic also felt like he was going to collapse from the sadness of losing his teacher, who was gentler and kinder than anyone else. Nevertheless, the reason he is still standing is because of a proverb left behind by Saya Rampling.

— We must always beware of illusions, Dominic. Because you can achieve anything you want there.
— Don’t be caught up in wild dreams. An image is a light that shines on you, but if you get close to it, you will get burned.

In fact, he disappeared like fog without even leaving a single strand of hair in the vast land of the Demon World. Only after the death of Ice Snow and Illusion Duke, Fenheim and Monarch realized that no wizard could stop the four worst forces of the Demon King’s army on their own.

“Master…”

The sorrowful wizard’s shoulders slumped heavily. But even for a moment, a look of determination appeared in his eyes.

‘To the point of falling into fantasy… I am not weak.’

Rather… The opposite will happen.
Just as I was adjusting my clothes, I heard a knock.

— This is Liv Labre, a second year student at the Ministry of Magic.

Come to think of it, was there a meeting? Finally, he looked in the mirror, adjusted his crooked glasses, and spoke in a low voice.

“Come on in.”

***

Pekda Magic Tower, where the tower owner is vacant, is the highest place on the upper floor. Liv cautiously entered Dominic Artsenz’s private office.
A magical atmosphere with purple carpets. A blue flame was crackling in the fireplace, and the quill pen on the table was dancing alone.
The solid geometric gold lines engraved on the round window depict the horoscope of the Fraum Mobilee, and the wooden sculpture of Sephiroth is carved on the western wall, where it meets the tributary of Terraria extending below.
A room containing the secrets of Samwonbon. Dominic, who was sitting on a chair in the corner, got up when Liv came in and pointed to the living room sofa.

“Welcome. “Now is the interview time, right?”
“Yes. But why go to the upper floor…”
“I’m a little busy because of the recent commotion. There wasn’t enough time to get downstairs and back. “I’m sorry I made you walk.”
“No! It’s okay, this much.”

Tea was poured into a clattering teacup as the hem of her clothes fluttered in the wind at the end of her stubby arms. He asked curiously when Liv did not touch the car in front of him.

“Are you not interested in refreshments?”
“Because I have no appetite. It’s okay.”
“Well, okay. Liv student. The academic records have been delivered from the academy. My grades were very excellent. There is a high understanding of not only white magic but also black magic… In particular, the evaluation of Professor Antonio’s midterm replacement lecture was quite interesting to me personally.”

Praise continues. But Liv felt uncomfortable.
The magic training period is a time when the Magic Tower can preoccupy excellent students. After graduation, direct scouting offers were received in cases where students were encouraged to join the ranks or if they wanted to build a cooperative relationship with the family.

“Do you have any plans to receive apprenticeship at our magic tower after graduation?”

I thought the top owner would not be able to make an active proposal because the position was vacant. As Pekda M Tower lacks talent, they were thirsty to recruit Liv.

“Sorry. “I don’t have any intention of standing there yet.”

Of course, she gently declined.
A moment of silence. The steaming teacup was slowly cooling down.

“Do you have any other intentions?”
“I considered the 12 Alliance, but… “I’m going to think about it a little more carefully now.”
“All right. Today is the day you go to the Storm Shrine, right?”
“Yes.”
“I have some urgent business to run, so my assistant Peter will be the leader instead. Have a safe trip.”

Urgent? Now that I think about it, the siren sound that was ringing at the Magic Tower recently was quite strange.
But before Liv had time to say anything, someone knocked on the door from outside.

— Excuse me, Master Butap. The cause was found at the observatory.

“I guess I should go first. “Then, student Liv.”
“Yes?”
“Don’t get too caught up in fantasy.”

As he led her up the stairs to her lower level, Dominic gave her his usual words of encouragement.

***

“I figured it out, Master Butap! Some crazy guy punched the ground… !!”
“You’re shattering a nightmare. “What about the Storm Shrine?”
“Illusions that need to be released periodically are gathered together and are unstable. I guess I’ll have to cancel today’s field trip…”
“No, it’s okay.”

Dominic draped a robe over her body and tried to dissuade the observer. She shouldn’t let it ruin her plans now.

“Proceed as planned.”
“But…”
“Are you okay. “Because there are not many things left that are more important than that.”

It was a little strange that he was startled when he made eye contact with her.
But soon, he saw her nodding and smiled kindly again.

“Then I’ll be back for a little while. If anything happens, please report it to the communication correction.”
“Yes…”

It was drizzling outside.
Dominic, who headed to the place where the last nightmare disappeared through space travel 〉, saw a man standing in the rain in the middle of a large crater.
Is this the Goliath that was haunting your nightmares not long ago? But the iron dog is not visible.
Either way, I knew I was running out of time.

Crispy!

He kicked the demon statue at his feet and broke it, then turned his head.

“Oh, are you here?”

A calm voice, as if you had made a dinner date with a friend of ten years.

“You’re late. “The sun is already starting to set, so what if it comes now?”

However, with the life threatening his entire body, Dominic immediately stretched out his left arm into the air. The body of a blue beast materialized through imagery magic filled the empty space.

“This. “Did you spray it?”
“…”

Dominic didn’t answer. Instead he looked at the gradually darkening sky and the hills where clouds were starting to gather, he said.

“Baldur’s Nightmare is a magical phenomenon that encompasses the entire Vatudis region.”
“…”
“The totality is shrouded in mystery, but the energy that spreads outward is always constant.”

Immediately after the war ended, he abandoned everything else and studied only that fog in the Magic Tower. A mirror that reflects the past and a fantasy that shows things that have disappeared.

There was only one thought. Only to bring back the teacher.
If we go back in time, we can definitely meet the fantasy ball again.

“The statue plays a role in fixing the nightmare, which is constantly changing in space and time. If you break the fragments into small pieces and spread them out, the magical energy gathered in the Storm Shrine will be reduced and the balance in the center will be maintained.”
“Instead, the scope where the nightmare spreads will become wider. “People who live here will die because of it.”
“You’re going to die? “Have you not seen the lives of the residents here?”

People left the statues of gods and instead brought out the remnants of the past into reality, and food became more abundant in the barren land.
Activating nightmares didn’t make anyone unhappy. But he still didn’t seem to understand his deeper meaning.

“I’m sure you learned not to be eaten by illusions.”
“That’s it!”

Sigh!

Dominic spread his arms. The rain hit his face hard.
Under the darkening sky, all the remaining demonic statues raised their heads toward the Storm Shrine.

“I’m not being eaten by illusions.”

Rumbling——!!

“It’s about making fantasy a reality.”

Just a little bit further. Although a lot of it was broken, the number of statues was sufficient.
The gate at the center of the Storm Goddess is already producing stable output. As Baldur’s nightmare spread throughout the region, the boundary between here and beyond the gate became even more blurred.

If reality and fantasy coexist, we will definitely be able to bring back the living teacher——

“You idiot.”

***

There is no magic that can revive a dead person.
Even wizards who know such obvious truths better than anyone else sometimes cannot make rational decisions.
What can I do? They are all victims of losing someone they love to war.

“Now I understand.”
“Yes?”

However, this guy who was talking crazy in front of me had another problem in the first place.

“I’m a disciple of Lord Illusion… “If it was the Three-Leaf Medal, Helzeb would have been there, and since it was the only hope for the collapsing Magic Tower at the end of the war, he would not have even dared to check it.”
“What are you talking about?”

I picked up the demon statue with only its neck left. That guy doesn’t feel any discomfort even after seeing this.
They talk about new things and all, and they just think of it as a catalyst that stabilizes Baldur’s nightmare.

“The bastard who deals with imagery magic may know what comes out of the past when he turns fantasy into reality…” …”

This is sure.

“Tsk, this is why I don’t talk to demon bastards.”
“Demons? What did you say?”

I threw the head of the demon statue that Dominic was holding at Dominic’s feet. That guy probably didn’t know what he was doing until right before his heart was pierced.

The fact that he is trying to bring about a disaster that will threaten humanity, simply with the desire to revive his teacher.

“Hey.”

The sculpture imitating the image of God is a sign.
Signs have a purpose.
A sign specifies time and space.

Certain conditions lead to disaster.
All disasters were destroyed by mortals.
But still, cracks in the world exist.

The Archduke’s Ups.
The Archduke’s sins.
One of the Grand Dukes.

I activated the inherent magic within my body and spoke to the ghost buried in a mountain range in Helzeb who had not yet realized what it was.

“You must be a doppelganger, idiot.”